MOULTRIE, Ga. — A nationwide bell-tolling Sunday will honor the 116,516 American men and women who died in World War I.  

Bells of Peace: A World War One Remembrance is a collaborative program, whereby American citizens and organizations across the entire country are invited to toll bells in their communities 21 times at 11 a.m. local time Sunday, Nov. 11, according to a press release from the John Benning Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

“Conceived and designed in collaboration with the nation’s veterans of service with the Honor Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the bell tolling provides a solemn reminder of the sacrifice and service of veterans of World War I and all veterans,” the DAR said.

Bells will be tolled in communities across the nation, in places of worship, schools, town halls, public carillons, and cemeteries, to mark the centennial of the Armistice that brought an end to hostilities in what Americans fervently hoped had been “The War to End All Wars.” This nationwide program is designed to honor those American men and women who served 100 years ago during World War I. The war ended by an armistice agreement between the warring countries at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” — 11 a.m. on November 11th, 1918. This date has since become known as Veterans Day in the United States.  

The World War I Centennial Commission has created a website ww1cc.org/bells for additional information and tools to conduct the bell tolling, and for additional information on the WWI Centennial.  

World War I took place between July 1914 and November 1918 and was one of the deadliest conflicts in world history. More than 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians died as a result of the war. The United States officially entered the war on April 6, 1917. Some 4.7 million Americans stepped forward to serve in uniform during the war, 2 million of them were deployed overseas to fight, and 116,516 of them never made it home.

Locally Bells of Peace is promoted by John Benning Daughters of the American Revolution. For more information, email nancycolemandar@windstream.net.